Garter Ear Flap Hat

This Garter Ear Flap Hat was an engineering feat to get me back on my feet. You see, I didn’t exactly have that quintessential fresh-start feeling that so often comes with the New Year. Instead, I spent January 1st in bed with the flu and its attendant fever, aches, chills, and delirium. Just as the worst was passing, Mother Nature blasted us with a Polar Vortex that I did not have the strength nor will to face.

Cabin fever set in! Groggy from illness and stir-crazed from quarantine, I was determined to prove my health (and sanity), and so, making this hat became a triumphant product of my bruised spirit. I created this hat that simultaneously hangs on and hugs my head, which provides protection and insulation from a season that had been beating me down.

Still enamored with the ease of working short rows in garter stitch (as with my Knit Elbow Patches), I constructed this hat in one seamless piece using Purl Soho’s soft and lush Alpaca Pure. The more I knit with this incredibly comforting yarn, the better I felt. And the topper made it official. Slightly pointed with a tiny tassel, the finish delivered cheer and whimsy. I was back to my healthy self!

With my head toasty warm and back in full heath, that fresh-start feeling did arrive… just a little late this year. A belated Happy New Year to all! May it be a healthy one. -Laura

Notes

The Right and Left Ear Flaps are shaped using short rows. For our complete Short Rows Tutorial, please click here. NOTE: Because the short rows are worked in garter stitch in this pattern, you do not have to pick up the wraps; simply ignore the wraps when you come to them and work the wrapped stitch normally.

wrp-t [wrap and turn]: keeping the yarn in back, slip the next stitch purlwise from the left needle to the right needle. Bring the yarn forward as if to purl. Return the stitch from the right needle back to the left needle. Turn the work.

Shape Left Ear Flap

NOTE: For this portion of the pattern, you will be working in Short Rows, back and forth, turning the work part way through each round, rather than continuing to the end of the needle. For a tutorial, click here.

NOTE: If a dash (” – “) appears in place of a number for your size, omit this line of instruction.

528 Responses to Garter Ear Flap Hat

Hello, I’m just wondering whether it’s possible to knit this all on double pointed needles rather than circular needles? I’m in Australia and I’m having trouble finding 12inch circular needles. I’ve never used circular needles before, so I’m not sure whether they are necessary to this pattern.
Thanks in advance for your help!

Oh and if the answer is that circular needles are needed, would 40cm (approx 16inch) be ok for the baby size hat? This seems to be the smallest length available here!
Thank you

Thanks for writing in. You can use a 16″ circular needle for this pattern, but if you are having trouble joining your stitches in the round, you can always use double points. They work just as well! Whatever works for you or whatever you have available in the right size will do just fine!

Hi Nat,
I’m in Australia too. Google ‘magic loop technique’ – basically you just use really long circular needles for everything so you don’t have to buy all different lengths for every project.
It’s really easy once you get the idea of it.
I’ve made loads of the garter ear flap hats using it and socks etc – anything where I used to use double point needles,
Good luck!

Hi, a question, I would like to ask is, if there already is a german translation of this pattern?
We are a group of german knitters who make wooly hats for people in buddhist charities in Nepal. You can contact me and I can give you the link to the organization, we are supporting.

I could do the translation, if you allow me, and would also like it, if it can be included at the ravelry page for the pattern, so people whose english is not well enough to work with the english pattern can have the translation as orientation.
We have a few people in our group, who would have less struggles with the translation.

Thanks for writing in. You are more than welcome to translate the pattern for your own use but we cannot use your translation on our website or our Ravelry page. For the time being our patterns are in English only but that is not to say we won’t translate our patterns in the future. I’ll be sure to note your request! Thanks again!

I love this hat, but I’m stuck on the left ear flap. I’ve watched the short rows tutorial, which seems straightforward, and read all previous comments, but I’m still not sure how to proceed. Two questions: 1. After the first short row, I wrapped and turned as directed in the tutorial, but when I turn, the yarn is now in front, as if to purl. The pattern, however, tells me to knit. Do I just move the yarn to the back and knit, picking up the wrap by knitting it and the first stitch together? 2. To get to this point, I started at the beginning of the row and knitted the first short row to 11 stitches before the second marker. Now that I’ve wrapped and turned, the pattern is telling me to knit to 11 stitches before the next marker. But, moving back in the direction from which I came, there are only 9 stitches to the 1st marker and another 5 to the marker where I joined the round. What am I doing wrong?
Many thanks for any help–
Holly

Thanks for writing in! I am happy to try to help you with your questions.

1. After you wrap and turn the first short row, you will move the yarn to the back and knit as directed in the pattern. Our tutorial is based on stockinette and not garter as if used in the pattern and thus there is a difference in the tutorial from the needs of this pattern.
2. Based on the number of stitches that you are mentioning, it sounds as though you are doing the adult medium size. For the size that you are working, there should be 25 stitches between the first and second stitch markers. Based on that size, for the first short row, you knit to 11 stitches before the second stitch marker (this will be 14 stitches into the 25 stitch ear flap). You will wrap and turn the next stitch. Now when the work has been turned, there should be 14 stitches before the stitch marker. IF you only have 9 stitches, there may be too few stitches for the ear flap.

I hope that this helps clear things up! Please let us know if you have any additional questions!
Cassy

Hello Lynette,
Thanks for writing in! If you want to use 5 ply yarn and go down in needle size The whole hat will come out smaller. Depending on which size you want to knit you could just knit a size up to correct this. Otherwise you will have to adjust the pattern.
I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any further questions.
Warmly,
Marilla

Hello. I would really like to knit this hat, but I had to ravel three times. I do not understand first line of instructions for ear flap. Do I need to knit all stiches until the seven before second marker? Or do I have to place all stitches on right needle and knit just seven stitches before second marker? I amm confused but in love with hat.

Hello Hana,
Thank you for reaching out. I’m sorry to hear you are having this frustrating experience! For the first row you are knitting all the stitches until you get to 7 stitches before the second marker at which time you will wrap and turn. I hope this clears things up for you!
Warmly,
Marilla

Hi there, i an having trouble with my rows of wrap and turn. I am fine starting out and going to 9 stitches before the second marker, but from there on it says knit to 8 etc before the next marker…but the next marker is very close to my wrp-t…should I be going one marker past that? I have done this many times both ways and it is not working out for me. Thanks for your help!

Hello Tiffany,
Thanks for writing in! Which size are you knitting? I can’t be totally sure without knowing which size you are knitting, but if the pattern says to knit to a number before next marker you will not go past the marker. The number of stitches you knit before your wrap and turns should be going down by one each row to create the ear flap. I hope this all makes sense, please let me know if you have any further questions.
Warmly,
Marilla

Hi – My twin granddaughters heads measure 19 3/4″ & 19 1/2″. They will be 3 in December. Based on these circumferences, I am wondering which size hats to make? I don’t know the rule regarding sizing . . . a small adult sounds a bit large for a 3 year old.
Thanks!

Hi Karen! I’m also knitting this pattern for a 3-year-old with a 19+” head circumference. I opted for the small adult size and so far it looks like I made the right choice. When I got to the point of completing the body, before starting on shaping the crown, I split the diff on when to stop and stopped when the piece measured 5″ (pattern indicates 5 1/4″ for small adult size, 4 3/4″ for kid size).

I am to the shaping of the crown, but am a little confused by the wording in the pattern, “mark previous stitch”.
Set-Up Round: P7 (8, 9, 10, 11, 12), k1, mark previous stitch, [p14 (16, 18, 20, 22, 24), k1, mark previous stitch] three times, purl to end of round.
Do I purl my 7, knit 1, then place the marker, or do I place the marker before I knit 1?

Hey Melissa- are you sure about this? The pattern says k1, mark previous stitch which would be the k1. If it actually means mark the last purl stitch before k1, then why wouldn’t it be written that way? Can someone clarify because I’ve been doing this all wrong! Thanks 🙂

I think I can help! Since the Garter Ear Flap Hat uses double decreases, it is actually not helpful to place your marker on the needle, as you will have to move it out of the way on each row. The best way to mark this stitch is to use a removable stitch marker, and place it in the previous stitch itself, in the row just under the needle. After a few decrease rows the stitch will be very easy to find even without the marker since there will be a column of stockinette stitches and decreases standing out from the surrounding garter stitch, but you can also move the marker up the column of stitches if necessary.

I was also confused at this portion. Thank you for the clarification to use a removable stitch marker, but now I’m a bit confused after reading these comments which stitch I am supposed to put the removable stitch marker in? The knit stitch or the last of the purl stitches?
Thank you!

Hi there! Loving the pattern but I’m having trouble in Round 1 of the crown of the hat, where it says to knit to one stitch before the next marked stitch, then s2kp, then move the stitch marker to the s2kp. If I’m knitting to one stitch *before* the marker does that mean the last stitch before the marker gets knitted? or am I stopping when I get to that last stitch before the marker? I’m just not sure when to slip two stitches — last stitch before marker plus 1? or stitch right up to the marker, then do the s2kp? And then where do I put the marker at that point? Thank you for clarifying for me!

Hi Andrea,
You are going to knit to the stitch before the marked stitch so you will have 2 stitches before the marker. Then you would do s2kp. Slip those 2 stitches together knitwise, then with the marker still on left needle knit into the stitch next to the other side of the marker, leaving the marker in place, the stitch is still on both the right and left needle,slip the marker to the right needle completing the stitch. The sequence is now done, at the end of the right needle, you will have 2 slipped stitches, 1 knitted stitch and 1 marker. Slip the marker back to the left needle, you will then pass the 2 slipped stitches over the knitted stitch. You have now completed the s2kp. You will do this 4 times.

Thanks for writing in! We do not have a video for the start of this pattern. I find that it is helpful if I say the pattern out loud as I knit it as it clarifies things for me. I am not sure that I understand the second portion of your question but I would be happy to answer any other questions that you may have regarding this pattern!

How do you get the garter stitch with knitting in the round? If I start knitting the cast on stitches it comes out as stockinet stitch. Is it because I start knitting in the same direction from where I cast on or should I go the other way? Many thanks! Jana

I’m having a really hard time with the decreasing/shaping of this hat… is there a chance anyone could share directions without the whole moving-of-the-marker thing? I feel like it should be straightforward enough. I can’t determine whether to start my sskp on the knit stitch… or after? Darn it… things just aren’t adding up for me!

Thanks for writing in! I am sorry to here that you are having challenges with this pattern. Unfortunately, you will need to move the marker to maintain the look of this hat. The marker is always attached to the decrease to maintain the columns of decreases. As you will be decreasing 2 stitches at each decrease point, the completed stitch itself will need to be marked. You will knit to 1 stitch before the marked stitch, then slip the next stitch and the marked stitch knitwise. You will then knit 1 stitch, pass slipped stitches over knit stitch and off needle and move the stitch marker from the formerly marked stitch to this newly completed decrease.

Thanks for writing in! I think that I see the confusion. You will be marking the stitch instead of placing the marker between two stitches. You will need to use a removable stitch marker to put onto the stitch that you just completed. Thus you will need to knit the stitch first.

Hi all, I love this hat and all works well up until the set up row for shaping the crown. When I follow the instructions for the set up round, my decreases end up off-center in both the back and front of the hat. The only thing I can think of to do is to change the number of purl stitches in the set up round so that the decreases end up centered. Any advice? Thank you!
Beth

Thanks for writing in! A pickle indeed! I am not sure what could have gone wrong. I would suggest checking to make sure that you have the proper number of stitches before beginning the set-up round. You should have the same number of stitches as when you cast on. If you have too few or too many, this may explain why your decreases are not quite on center. If you do have the correct number of stitches, I would be sure that you have the end/beginning of round marked correctly.

The same thing happened to my first attempt at this hat. I am now working on my second and was alerted that the decreases were uneven after the first round. I just backed up to the start the shaping row again and will need to adjust where the decreases go in order for them to be symmetrical. I checked and still have the same number of stitches that I started with. Could this be a problem with the pattern?

Thanks for reaching out! We have had hundreds of knitters complete this hat successfully, but you never know! Can you let me know what size you are knitting so I can check the pattern and try to clarify it for you?

Love this hat and wanted to know:
Do I need to make any adjustments if I do the ear flaps and a few rows in garter and then switch to stockinette? and second, my yarn calls for size 4 (USA) needles. How many stitches do you recommend that I cast on for the toddler size hat (gauge is 23 stitches = 4″)?

Thanks for writing in! At present this lovely little hat pattern is only available for worsted weight yarn. Given your gauge, you can try casting on for the second largest size and knitting to the length for the toddler size but this may take some trial and error. (23 stitches = 4 inches or 5.75 stitches per inch x 16″ circumference = 92 stitches which would be the adult medium size) Adjusting from garter to stockinette would change the look of the hat and you would have to adjust the short rows to work in stockinette. While it may be some work to adjust the pattern, you can certainly do it!

Thanks for writing in! This part can be a bit tricky! Essentially, to keep the decreases centered, you will be marking the stitch using a locking stitch marker (place the marker around the completed stitch). You will be moving this marker each time that you worked the mark stitch to mark the new stitch.

Thanks for writing in! For this pattern, you will not be placing stitch markers in the traditional sense but rather placing them on a stitch rather than between two stitches. For the smallest size, your crown decreases should read:

In the set-up round, you will be placing the marker on the K1 that comes after the P7. The way in which you have it written, you are placing the marker between the p7 and k1 and this will not mark the stitch in the way that you will need for the next rounds.

For round 1, you will want to knit to 1 stitch before the marked stitch (this will be the k1 that you placed the marker on). That is to say that you will want to knit 6 stitches (1 before the marked) and then s2kp. You will then remove the marker from the stitch that you had marked and placed it on the s2kp. The same follows for round 2 and 4. You will always want to be marking the stitch and not placing the stitch marker between stitches. This it to keep the decrease detail even as you move up as the sk2p is a double decrease!

Hi there, I’m knitting the hat in toddler size and just realized that when doing the first part of the short rows for the earflap I️ knit to the 7th stitch before the marker, not the 8th. Will this effect anything? I️ would hate to have to take it all out, but best to be sure before I️ go any further. Thanks

Thanks for writing in! This might make the short rows for the ear a touch lopsided but overall things should work out just fine if you are loath to pull it out. That said, I have never regretted frogging back. If it bothers you now, it is always best to rip back and fix the issue!

Thanks for writing in! These hat do have stretch built in. Generally hats have a bit of negative ease so that they don’t slink down. That said, I think that the toddler and kid size would work for your little ones. Perhaps make the larger of the two sizes first and see if it fits for the larger head and/or the smaller head and decide from there!

I just want to thank you so much for this wonderful pattern… I am now making my 5th one for my baby-in-waiting. I sew, I do not knit, yet every year as it begins to get cold I fetishize over wool and patterns… this is the only one I have ever really made. I added strings to do up under baby’s chin and converted it for 4 ply soft soft merino wool. It has been the emblem of my sons’ winters, and 2 nephews too. You have a truly magical hand-mind combination, thank you again for generously sharing!

Thank you very much for offering such a cute pattern. I stuck however at the Crown part making, until the setup round…I realized I have 78 stitches left (I casted on 76st. to make a child size). is it possible I counted wrong at beginning? or I made mistake during the ear shaping? anyway, can I continue? and how to adjust the setup round? Thanks a lot for your help. I can’t wait to see it on my sone for this cold winter…

Thanks for writing in! I think that we can get you back on track! You will work an additional round before the set-up round. For that round you will, k 18, k2tog, k38, k2tog, knit to the end of the round. This is decrease of 2 stitches and will get you to the 76 stitches. Then work the set-up round as written and you should be all set!

Thank you very much for your reply. Does it mean if I have to adjust size, have to cast on times 8 stitches, became of the decreases? I did got back to 76 and finished it nicely. Only I want to point out is the child size turned out a bit small for my 4years old. Not the head but the height. Will have to make another one! Thank you anyway for a lovely pattern and full support with help.
Best,
Lilu

Thanks for writing back! There are 8 stitches between each size of this lovely hat. However, if you want to adjust for smaller or larger sizes than we have hear, you may need to do a fair bit of reworking to ensure that the ear flaps come out ok!

Head height can be easily adjusted by knitting a bit longer before decreasing! Each head is a little different and the great thing about knitting is that we always adjust to fit ourselves or our recipients!

I am so glad that the hat worked out and please do not hesitate to ask any additional questions!
Cassy

Do you think this could be resized for a newborn? I’m participating in the little hats, big heart campaign and would love to make a bunch of these, but I feel like it’s a little on the big size. Any ideas?

Hello Laura,
Thank you for reaching out! I think you should be able to do this, especially because you don’t need to make it that much smaller than the baby size. It may take a little bit of experimenting, but I think the simplest solution could be to take out a couple of stitches between the earflaps. You might have to do a bit of math when you get to the decreases.
I hope this helps and let us know how it goes!
Happy knitting,
Marilla

I’ve read through the pattern and comments and I’m still a bit unsure where the wraps take place. I’m attempting to make the baby sized hat and I’ve made my first wrap on the left ear flap. The next row says knit to 7 (8, 9, 10, 11, 12) stitches before next marker, wrp-t. Does this mean the first marker I get to or would it be the end of row marker (the second one)? If I knit to the first marker I’d only be knitting one stitch before my wrp-t.

Thanks for writing in! I think that I can help! For the very first wrap and turn, you will knit to 7 stitches before the second marker (for the baby size, this will be 9 stitches) and then wrap and turn your work. Your next row will be to knit to 7 stitches before the next marker (for the baby size this will be 2 stitches) and then wrap and turn your work.

I have attempted this hat three times and every time ended up with a hole at the edge of one of my ear flaps when i knit back around over the wrap. It only seems to happen on one side, and I haven’t been able to figure out why. Could I be using the wrong wrp-t method? Should it be the wrp-t for purl side or knit side when i’m doing the short rows? And then I assume when I knit back over the wrap I need to follow the instructions for picking up the wrap to prevent the hole, correct? I’ve made this hat before with no problems so I’m confused on what I’m doing wrong here.

Thanks for writing in! So long as you are following our short row tutorial, you should be doing the correct wrap and turn method. This method should be the same on both sides of the fabric. If you are getting a hole at the same time each time, you could try picking up the wrap at that point and knitting it together with the stitch that it is wrapped around and this should close up the hole!

I just asked this same question! So we don’t follow the note that says to ignore the wrapped stitich? At what point during the pattern does this happen? Any additional step by step direction on this would be helpful!! I am consistently getting a hole on one side of either ear flap.

Hello Delpha,
Thank you for reaching out! Typically with garter stitch you don’t need to pick up the wrap, but with stockinette you do. However if you are getting holes with the garter stitch picking up the wrap will tighten it up and help eliminate the hole. If you are getting holes I would recommend going ahead and picking up your wraps with your stitches as they do in the short row tutorial.
I hope this is helpful and let us know how it goes!
-Marilla

I had that issue too, until I figured you have to knit the wrap and turn stitch after the stitch markers while on the row that tells you to remove them. I found I still had that one wrap and turn stitch left. This should help you, it did me.

I am loving knitting this adorable hat for myself and somehow I ended up knitting it inside out! I am about one inch from beginning the crown shaping and do not want the lovely decreases to be on the inside of the hat instead of the outside. This may be such a silly question but have I permanently mucked this up?

Thanks for reaching out! Oh no! While it is not really straightforward to work the decreases on the inside so that they look the same, there is something that you can try before you rip back and start over. You can try turning the hat right side out when you are at the seam in the back and wrapping and turning the next stitch. This should get you knitting in the correct direction. I would suggest doing this at least a few rows before the decreases. This may look a touch wonky at the join but I think that it is worth a try!

I think I can help! After finishing the left ear flap instructions, you will be in the middle of a row. If you look ahead to the first row of instructions in the “Shape Right Ear Flap” section, you are to continue knitting “to 7 (8, 9, 10, 11, 12) stitches before fourth marker, wrp-t,” which should put you in the correct section of the hat to shape the right ear flap. If you are having trouble keeping your stitch markers straight, I always like to use a different color or style of stitch marker for my beginning of round marker, which will make it easier to determine which one is your fourth marker.

Once you get the hang of it this is such a fun hat to make – it’s my go-to for last minute baby gifts! Good luck!
Julianna

Helloooo
I love this hat! I have a question though, after casting on and the knit two rounds it says change needles, do I knit a third round on the smaller needles? Or start the pattern with the smaller needles (I realize this is a total newbie question but I’m just not trusting what google is telling me!)

Thanks for the kind words! It can be helpful to print the pattern and keep track of your place with a sticky note in patterns written like this, but we will definitely keep your advice in mind for future updates!

Hello! I’m very excited to start this hat! Just starting knitting hats and trying to get the swing of things. I’m having a little trouble when it comes to starting the first eat flap. I’m kind of lost where to start. I knit the first 2 rounds with the stitch markers in place. The directions seemed straight forward but didn’t work out when it tried. Any tips for how to make it easier on myself? Thank you!!

Hello Aline,
Thank you for reaching out! For this portion of the pattern you are using short rows, which means you are actually knitting within your established row to create extra fabric. This means that you are turning your work back and forth rather than continuing to knit in the round, for the ear flap portion. What specifically seems to be going wrong in the short row portion? Is the earflap not lining up correctly or are you stuck getting started??
I hope I can help!
Warmly,
Marilla

Hi there! I love this pattern but am stuck on the ear flaps. When you first start on the flaps, it tells you to knit to 7 before the second marker, then wrp-t. But it doesn’t tell you to where? Like where to stop. Do you go back to the beginning of the row or to that first marker?

Hello Amber,
Thank you for reaching out! After you do your first wrap and turn you will simply move on to the next row and follow the instructions. In this case the next row tells you to “Knit to 7 (8, 9, 10, 11, 12) stitches before next marker, wrp-t.” .
I hope this clears things up for you and happy knitting!
-Marilla

Hello Ruth,
Thank you for reaching out! I hope I can clear things up for you. Your set up round is- “P7 (8, 9, 10, 11, 12), k1, mark previous stitch, [p14 (16, 18, 20, 22, 24), k1, mark previous stitch] three times, purl to end of round.”
This means that if we wrote out your it would be;
Purl 12, K1, P24, K1, P24, K1, P24, K1, purl to end of round(p12 for your size).
I hope this clears things up for you and let us know if you have any questions!
-Marilla

Based on the comment section, I ignored the notes and picked up the wraps while knitting short rows and also for the following row where you are instructed to purl the round and remove the markers. STILL getting 2 holes, one on each ear flap albeit smaller than when I didn’t do any of the above. What else am I missing? This seems like a recurring issue but others knit this hat with no problems. Love the look and still think this is an easy but impressive looking hat. Would love to solve this ear flap hole issue once and for all!!

Hi Delpha,
Thank you for writing- I’m happy to hear your hat is primarily hole free now! Its hard to know without seeing your hat, but are the two holes at the spot where you you begin knitting in the full round again? I would love to solve this as well!
Warmly,
Marilla

Thanks for the replies! I circled back around to this pattern for the holiday as gifts and with fresh eyes I think I figured it out. The two holes on either side are where you begin the short rows. I ignored the wraps while working the flaps BUT once both ear flaps were shaped and it came time to purl the full round I DID pick up the wrap ONLY at these two spots and slipped it behind the active stitch as per the tutorial notes re: picking up wraps purl side. The holes are still there barely and the yarn lays over and it disappears from view. Pretty happy I found a solution! Hope this helps anyone else that is having trouble.

Hello Karen,
Thank you for writing us! Yes, because you are knitting in the round you are alternating knitting and purling every other row to create a garter stitch.
I hope this clears things up and let us know if you have any further questions!
-Marilla

Thank you, Marilla! I was questioning myself because I didn’t see “purl” written in the instructions, but knew they needed to be there. Mainly, I thought I had missed something. I appreciate your quick response 🙂

Thanks for this gorgeous hat pattern! I’m planning to make the kid version for my 3 year old. Is there any easy variation that would lead to the hat being pointier/the point being longer? Thanks in advance!

Thank you so much for the kind words! If you would like to elongate the tip of the hat, you can work more plain rows in between decrease rows – for instance, in our pattern, we worked 3 plain rows in between decrease rows. You could work any odd number of rows – 5, 7, or more! – between the decrease rows to create more a stocking cap tip.

Thanks for reaching out! I am happy to help! I think that if you want to do reverse stockinette, you will need to knit the back side rows and purl the front side of the ear flaps to keep a consistent line from the ear flaps to the body of the hat. You can then follow the directions for the ear flaps (the wraps and turns) while just being sure to use reverse stockinette instead of garter!

Hello Margarett,
Thank you for reaching out! I just have a couple of questions about which sections you are working on. Are you working on Shape Crown of Hat? Which row are you referring to as 7?
I hope I can help!
-Marilla

Hello! I fell in love with this pattern and excitedly pulled out my knitting needles and began to knit. I quickly discovered that short turns are in fact challenging…so I watched the tutorial and practiced. I watched and read other methods and tutorials. I then read all 496 comments before trying again. I am determined to figure this out. I have made this hat some 10 times now. I’m frustrated because no matter what I do I can’t get rid of two holes (one at the back of the left ear flap and one on the front of the right earflap). I have tried everything and no matter what – there they are. Help please!

Hmmm, that is a tough one! I have made this hat a few times myself and haven’t seen any holes. Are you noticing the holes immediately after completing the ear flaps, or are you working a few rows of the garter stitch body of the hat before starting over? Although unresolved short rows will leave visible holes in stockinette stitch, usually in garter stitch you can’t see the holes so it’s not necessary to take any extra steps. If you haven’t already, I would try working the first few rows of garter stitch after the ear flaps to see if that solves the problem. If not, please feel free to send a picture to customerservice@purlsoho.com so we can try to troubleshoot this for you!

Hello!
I was wondering what the purpose of the larger needles for casting on and the first 2 rows are. Is it to avoid a too tight edge? Could the #7 needles be used the whole time if used very loosely during the beginning?
Thanks!

Great question! It is to keep the cast on edge loose – especially since you will be working short rows to curve the cast on edge around the ear flaps, you want to make sure it is not too tight. However, if you only have size 7 needles, it should be fine to cast on quite loosely!

Hi! Thanks for this great pattern!
I am having a little trouble understanding the end where it says “Repeat Rounds 1-4 five (6, 7, 8, 9, 10) more times. [12 (12, 12, 12, 12, 12) stitches]” – does this mean that you have to repeat the rounds until there are 12 stitches left?

Thank you for this lovely comment! We do not currently have the resources to translate our patterns, but hopefully at some point in the future this will be more of a possibility. In the mean time I will certainly pass along your suggestion!

Hello. Thanks for great pattern. I have one question. I’m making hat for toddler. I ended my wrap and turn rows and when I turned my work and started purl round I’m on the wrong side and I’m knitting hat inside out. Should I continue it I did something wrong?

Thanks for reaching out! Although it’s hard to say what exactly went wrong without seeing your work, I suspect you may have missed a short row since this purl row should be worked on the right side of the hat – there are an even number of short rows, beginning with a right side short row and ending with a wrong side short row, so after the final wrap and turn on the wrong side you will then have the right side facing for the rest of the hat.

Hi!
I am attempting to create a baby sized garter stitch earflap hat for my brand new grandson. I love the design but can’t seem to follow the instructions. 😫 I am using circular needles and believe I must alternate rounds from knit to purl to get the garter stitch pattern. Am I Correct?
My second question is do I need to alternat k, p for the eat flap short rows?
My third question is regarding the wrap-t…if I am alternating the rows k and p do I still keep the yarn in back?
Sorry, but I have a final question. Why do the pattern instructions change from using the term next ROUND to saying next ROw? Is a round different from a row when using circular needles?
Hopefully you are able to understand my queries and I will successfully complete this adorable little hat.
Thank you!
Kathleen

Thanks for reaching out! A round is essentially the same as a row, but the two words are used to differentiate between knitting back and forth and working in the round. In the beginning of the hat, when you are working back and forth in short rows, the word “row” is used, but once you complete that section and start working in the round, the word “round” will be used for the rest of the pattern.

If you look at the instructions for the ear flaps, you will see that every short row in this section is knitted. You may find our Short Row Tutorial helpful to see how to do the wrap and turns! Once you have completed the ear flaps, you are correct that you will have to alternate knit and purl rounds, but this is indicated in the “Work Body of Hat” section.

Hello Robin,
Thank you for reaching out. This part can be a bit tricky! Essentially, to keep the decreases centered, you will be marking the stitch using a locking stitch marker (place the marker around the completed stitch). You will be moving this marker each time that you worked the mark stitch to mark the new stitch.
I hope this helps and happy knitting!
-Marilla

Purl Soho® and purlsoho.com and all images, contents and text on this website are the copyrights and property of Purl Soho. All rights reserved. Note: ALL projects and patterns featured on this website are for home use only and are not to be resold or made for sale to third parties. ® 2019 Purl Soho